Des Moines power outages
Des Moines (Polk County, Iowa): your utility's map first, then the county's own figures from the Department of Energy and the EIA.
Official links, checked by hand. Utilities serving Polk County: EIA Form 861 (2025). PreparedStates isn't affiliated with any utility.
Out now in Polk County
0 customers without power in the Department of Energy's latest outage snapshot, Nov 2, 10:00 PM ET. MidAmerican Energy reported no outages here.
Not in this count: Alliant Energy, Consumers Energy Coop and Midland Power Coop aren't on DOE's ODIN outage feed. Check their own map if one of them is your utility.
Source: DOE / Oak Ridge National Laboratory ODIN, reprocessed about every 15 minutes; this page rechecks it every hour. Customers are meters (homes and businesses), not people.
How long the power goes out in Des Moines
In 2025 the average MidAmerican Energy customer in Iowa was without power for 3.4 hours in total (1.4 outside major events); its worst year since 2015 was 2020, at 16.7 hours. In 2025 the average Alliant Energy customer in Iowa was without power for 1.5 hours in total (1.2 outside major events); its worst year since 2015 was 2020, at 53 hours. Across all Iowa utilities it was 2.5 hours, and 4.4 across the US.
| Year | MidAmerican Energy | Alliant Energy |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 3.4 | 1.5 |
| 2024 | 3.6 | 1.9 |
| 2023 | 1.3 | 2.5 |
| 2022 | 1.6 | 1.2 |
| 2021 | 2.4 | 1.8 |
| 2020 | 16.7 | 53 |
| 2019 | 2 | 2.1 |
| 2018 | 1.9 | 2.6 |
| 2017 | 2.3 | 1.9 |
| 2016 | 2.5 | 1.5 |
| 2015 | 1.6 | 1.6 |
Hours without power per customer per year (SAIDI, including major events), each utility's own figures for Iowa in EIA Form 861 Reliability. A year is left out if the utility's reporting changed too much to compare. How every state compares.
Other utilities in Polk County
EIA also lists Consumers Energy Coop and Midland Power Coop in Polk County. If one of them sends your bill, its outage page is on its website and your bill.
What to do in a power outage
- Before: list what needs electricity, keep a flashlight for every person, and ask your provider for a plan for powered medical devices and cold medicines.
- During: keep the fridge and freezer closed, unplug appliances, and use flashlights instead of candles.
- Use generators, camp stoves and grills only outdoors, at least 20 feet from windows. Keep generators that far from doors and vents too.
- After: throw out fridge perishables after 4 hours without power or a cold source, and check refrigerated medicines.
The full power outage checklist, sourced to Ready.gov and the CDC, and how long a power outage lasts.
Get ready for the next one
- Build a power outage kit: Ready.gov's list, sized to your household.
- Portable power stations, compared: silent and safe indoors.
- Generators, compared, and the generator size calculator.
- What will it run? Runtimes for a fridge, CPAP or Wi-Fi.
Portable power stationsSilent, safe indoors: fridge, Wi-Fi, CPAP
Power banksKeep phones charged for days
Power failure lightsSwitch on by themselves
Wi-Fi and modem backupsKeep the internet up in short outagesQuestions
Is there a power outage in Des Moines right now?
Check MidAmerican Energy's outage map, linked at the top of this page: it is the live picture. In the Department of Energy's latest outage snapshot (Nov 2, 10:00 PM ET), utilities that share data with it reported 0 customers without power in Polk County. Alliant Energy, Consumers Energy Coop and Midland Power Coop aren't on DOE's ODIN outage feed, so their customers aren't in that count.
How long do power outages last in Des Moines?
In 2025, the average MidAmerican Energy customer in Iowa was without power for about 3.4 hours in total over the year, 1.4 hours of it outside major events such as big storms, by the figures MidAmerican Energy reports to the US Energy Information Administration. Its worst year since 2015 was 2020, at 16.7 hours. Any single outage can be much shorter or longer.
How do I report a power outage in Des Moines?
Report it to your utility, MidAmerican Energy, on its outage page or by the outage number on your bill, even if neighbors are out too: outage maps only show what the utility knows about. Report a fallen power line straight away and keep away from it (CDC).
What does customers out mean?
Outage maps and the Department of Energy's figures count customers, and one customer is one electric account or meter, usually a home or a business, so more people are affected than the number shows.
More on Iowa and nearby
Sources (5)
- US Department of Energy / Oak Ridge National Laboratory, ODIN outage data by county
- US Department of Energy / Oak Ridge National Laboratory, ODIN participating utilities
- US Energy Information Administration, Form EIA-861: service territories and reliability (SAIDI) by utility
- US Energy Information Administration, Electric Power Annual, Table 11.4: hours without power (SAIDI) by state
- CDC: what to do to protect yourself during a power outage